YES IT'S THE FIFA WORLD CUP-HAD YOU NOTICED?

Beginning of the World Cup

Centenario Stadium in the Uruguayan city of Montevideo, stage of the final of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930

Eventually, FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. Heaven knows what took "them" so long to organise! FIFA president Jules Rimet thus set about organizing the inaugural World Cup competition. With Uruguay now a two-time Olympic champion and due to celebrate its centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country.

The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for the European sides at the time of the Great Depression. No European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded the national teams of Belgium, France, Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia to make the trip and play the tournament. In total, 13 nations took part – seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously and were won by France and the United States who beat Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. Four days later, the first World Cup hat-trick was achieved by Bert Patenaude of the U.S. in the Americans' 3–0 win against Paraguay. In the Final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo to become the first nation to win the World Cup.

The 1932 Summer Olympics held in Lost Angeles did not include football as part of the programme. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.

The 1934 World Cup was hosted by Italy and was the first World Cup to include a qualification stage. Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament, a number which would be retained until the expansion of the finals tournament in 1982. Uruguay, the titleholders from 1930, still upset about the poor European attendance at their World Cup in 1930, boycotted the 1934 World Cup, the only time the defending champions didn't take part in the next tournament. Bolivia and Paraguay were also absent, allowing Argentina and Brazil to progress to the finals in Italy without having to play any qualifying matches. Egypt became the first African team to compete, but lost to Hungary in the first round. Italy won the tournament, with a 2-1 extra time win over Czechoslovakia, becoming the first European team to do so.

The 1938 World Cup competition was also held in France, much to the consternation of many South Americans, with Uruguay and Argentina boycotting. For the first time, the title holders and the host country were given automatic qualifications. 

Following a play-off match against Latvia, Austria qualified for the tournament, but because of the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938, Austria withdrew from the tournament, with some Austrian players being added to the German team, which was eliminated in the first round by Switzerland. Austria's place was offered to England, but the "snobby" F.A. declined. This left the finals with 15 nations competing. France hosted, but for the first time the hosts did not win the competition, as Italy retained their title, beating Hungary 4-2 in the Final. 

Polish striker Ernest Willimowski became the first player to score four goals in a World Cup game during Poland's 6–5 loss against Brazil; his record was later equalled by other players, but was not bettered until 56 years later in the 1994 World Cup, by Oleg Salenko for Russia against Cameroon when he scored 5.     

                                                                                 

PELE AND JUNE

Bit of a gap then, but I really like spending time doing this and having been away for a few days, I reckon I should keep going just to keep me out of mischief. The Mrs agrees!

Pele scored his first World Cup goal on June 19th 1958, against Wales, and a fraction over 12 years later, on 21st June 1970, he scored his last goal in the World Cup. Coincidence! Worth knowing just in case you need to liven up some chat at the pub. This time, the opposition was Italy in the World Cup Final at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium in front of a 107,412 crowd. Pele scored the first goal in Brazil’s 4-1 victory. 

Brazil	4–1	Italy
Pelé  18' Gérson  66' Jairzinho  71' Carlos Alberto  86'		Boninsegna  37'

With this 1970s, third win after their 1958 and 1962 World Cup victories, Brazil became the world's most successful national football team, surpassing both Italy and Uruguay, who each had two championships. Brazil also earned the right to retain the Jules Rimet Trophy permanently. (However, it was stolen in 1983 while on display in Rio de Janeiro and never recovered.) Brazilian coach Mário Zagallo was the first footballer to become World Cup champion as a player (1958, 1962) and a coach, and Pelé ended his World Cup playing career as the first (and so far only) three-time winner.

That victory saw Brazil become the first nation to win the World Cup three times,with Pele the only player to appear in each of those three finals. The hat-trick of victories saw Brazil allowed to keep the original World Cup  – the Jules Rimet trophy – although sadly that was stolen in 1983 and, with no Brazilian equivalent top Pickles the dog (remember him?) it was never recovered and is believed to have been melted down.

On this day (21st June) in 2002,
Michael Owen gave England the lead against Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals, in Shizuoka in Japan, but goals from Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, (a free-kick from over 40 yards which beat David Seaman)  saw 10-man Brazil into the Semi-finals against Turkey. What might have been!

and in the Final, on June 30th

CHEESEY MOMENTS-you will love this!

June 4th is globally recognised as the United Nations' International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression and is also culturally celebrated as National Cheese Day, honouring the massive historical impact of Childrens' rights (of course we recognise this important remembrance) AND a millennia-old beloved dairy staple! Football clubs and cheese have crossed paths in unexpected ways, ranging from bizarre sponsorships and dairy-themed nicknames to corporate stadium lounges.

Whether you are hosting a watch party or simply want to indulge in some dairy goodness on June 4th, you can combine your love for cheese and football with a few festive ideas:

Several famous football clubs are located in renowned cheese-producing regions worldwide. 

• Cheddar AFC (Somerset, UK): Based in the village of Cheddar—the actual birthplace of Cheddar cheese—this 131-year-old club competes in the Western League Division One. They are famously nicknamed "The Cheesemen" and gained attention for a sponsorship deal with Violife vegan cheese.
• Stilton United FC is an English grassroots football club based in the village of Stilton, Cambridgeshire. The club competes in the Peterborough & District Football League (PDFL), playing their home matches at the Stilton Pavilion!
  Quick Stilton Utd Facts....JUST FOR FUN!
  • Leagues: The club features a first team in the lower PDFL divisions and a Veterans team in the Veterans Premier Division.
  • Colours: Red and black (home), blue and white (alternate).
  • Management: The club is currently actively seeking new personnel to fill their first-team manager role for the upcoming season. 
  Community & News
  • Senior Side: The club consistently recruits players to strengthen their squad and organizes regular friendlies. 
  • Youth System: The club also operates the Stilton United Colts, running various youth teams (such as the U15s and U16s) in the local area. 
  • Socials: You can check out their latest fixtures, matchday updates, and recruitment drives by following the official Stilton United FC X Feed or joining the SUFC Facebook Group.
  If you are looking to get involved as a player, coach, or volunteer, we can help you find the correct contact details for the club's representatives. We can look into trial information or training times, you don't have to love cheese.....also
• Club Facts
• Stilton United FC (Cambridgeshire, UK): Playing in the Peterborough & District Football League, this club represents the village famous for its blue Stilton cheese. Their home matches are hosted at the Stilton Pavilion.
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• Wensleydale Creamery League (North Yorkshire, UK): While there isn't a single massive club, the Wensleydale region is so intertwined with football that it hosts its own Wensleydale Cremery Football League.  featuring local village teams like Hawes United, Leyburn United, and Carperby Rovers.
• Parma Calcio 1913 (Parma, Italy): Located in Emilia-Romagna, the home of world-famous Parmigiano Reggiano, this professional club competes in Italy's top-tier. They play their home matches at the 27,906-capacity Ennio Tardini Stadium. You know what Calcio means, don't you!
  
  
  
• Green Bay Packers (Wisconsin, USA): If you are interested in American football, (sorry, we have to include this!!) the NFL’s Packers are based in the US dairy capital. Fans famously don foam "Cheesehead" wedges, an item of fan gear, created by a company that the Packers bought in 2023.....

GRETNA GREEN-GOOD FOR MARRIAGE BUT NOT SO FOR FOOTY.

June 3rd 2008 saw the resignation of Gretna FC from the Scottish League. Founded in the 19th Century, as Gretna Green FC, they played local leagues. The club then was reformed in 1946 by local servicemen after the war, The Anvils played in the English "amateur" leagues originally, like the Carlisle and District League, the Northern League Div 2 and the Northern Premier League.

In the 1990s they played in the English FA Cup, the only Scottish club to achieve this since Queen's Park in 1887.

They were playing in the English Northern League in 2001/2 and then applied and were accepted into the Scottish League, replacing Airdrieonians. In 2007/8 they had been to the Scottish Cup Final (June 3rd), losing on a penalty shoot out to Hearts. They played in the UEFA Cup as a result.

It then all went downhill with not much money, the club still playing at Raydale Park. Their financier pulled out with ill health also and the club went into administration, coming bottom of the SPL attracting crowds of only 450. The club was demoted to the 4th Tier in Scotland and went into liquidation, resigning from the Scottish League, reforming in the East of Scotland FL in July under the new name of Gretna 2008.

The National League Paper contained a letter from a chap in Topsham, Devon, who was concerned that Berwick Rangers FC (founded 1884) had dropped below the Scottish League Division Two, into the Lowland League. Before their relegation, the Borderers were the only England club to play in the Scottish Professional Football League.  He wrote that there was a possibility of Gateshead collapsing, allowing Berwick Rangers to join the English National League North, geographically a reasonable suggestion, Berwick-on-Tweed of course, being in England. Why not Gretna!!

Following  this season's Play-offs in Scotland, Cove Rangers from the Highland League won promotion to the Scottish League defeating Berwick Rangers, from the Lowland Football League, 7-0 over two legs, gaining promotion to the Third Division. The story is, the paper felt, that the Scottish pyramid is gaining in strength; 7-0?? maybe bits of it?

Meanwhile by in England, in 1950 the Football League was expanded to 92 clubs from 88. Two clubs joined each of the regionalised Third Divisions; South: Colchester and Gillingham and North: Scunthorpe and Lindsey Utd and Shrewsbury Town. They played each other on the first day of the new season each game ending 0-0. All four remain in the FL!!

Gretna

Full name	Gretna Football Club
Nicknames	Black and Whites; Anvils
Founded	1946; 80 years ago
Dissolved	2008; 18 years ago!!
Ground	Raydale Park
Capacity	3,000
2007–08	Scottish P.L., 12th (relegated)
Home colours Away colours

Gretna Football Club was a Scottish club based in the town of Gretna, Dumfries AND Galloway, close to the border between England and Scotland. The club last competed in the Scottish Premier League, the then top flight of Scottish Football. Nicknamed the Black and Whites or the Anvils, the club was founded in 1946, and enjoyed rapid and continual success in the mid-2000s, reaching the Scottish Cup Final in 2006. However, the club fell into severe financial difficulties when its main financial backer, businessman Brooks Mileson, withdrew funds due to ill health, leading the club to dissolve in 2008.

Despite being based in Scotland, the club participated in amateur and semi-professional leagues in English football from 1947 until they were elected to the Scottish Football League at the third attempt in 2002. Relying heavily on substantial financial support from Mileson, the club were promoted through the Scottish leagues from the Third Division to the Scottish Premier League in less than five years. 

Gretna qualified for a UEFA club competition on one occasion, in 2006, Gretna reached the final of the Scottish Cup whilst competing in the Scottish Second Division and were beaten by Heart of Midlothian. The winner of the Scottish would normally qualify for the UEFA Cup, but because Hearts had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, through their league ranking in the Scottish Premier League, the place was passed to Gretna as runners-up!! They were eliminated in the Second Qualifying Round by Derry County, representing the Republic of Ireland, in a two-legged tie.

Gretna struggled badly in the Scottish League and the club were placed in administration after Mileson withdrew his support due to illness. At the end of the season, all of the club's staff were made redundant and the club was initially relegated to the Third Division due to its inability to guarantee fulfilment of their future fixtures. After this demotion, the one remaining offer to buy the club was withdrawn. The club resigned its place in the Scottish Football League on 3 June 2008 and was formally liquidated on 8 August. With no ground, staff, players or a competition to play in, the club's dissolution was inevitable and the club was formally liquidated by the administrators on 8 August 2008.

Near neighbours Annan Athletic won the vote to replace Gretna in the Scottish League. 

The club's Supporters's Trust then decided to establish a new club, Gretna 2008, who were accepted into the East of Scotland F.L. on 2nd July 2008. Whilst sharing the same fanbase and a similar name, the new club has no legal connection with the original Gretna Football Club. The club initially played their matches at the Everholm Stadium, Annan. The club returned to Raydale Park in May 2009 which it now leases from the Raydale Partnership, a community group of which Gretna Supporters' Society is a member.

BANNED!

English FOOTBALL clubs were banned from all European competitions indefinitely by UEFA on June 2nd 1985. 

This decision followed the Heysel Stadium disaster in Brussels, where 39 spectators (mostly Juventus fans) were killed during a riot before the European Cup Final... chaos below....

The 1985 European Cup final pitted two of the most successful and "storied" clubs in Europe against each other: Juventus from Turin, Italy, and Liverpool, an English team that was the defending European champion. At 7 p.m., right before the start of the match, a group of Liverpool fans, drunk from a day spent at the bars in Brussels, charged after a group of Juventus fans. In the melee, a stadium wall collapsed, crushing some spectators. Others were trampled in the ensuing rush to flee the stadium. In all, 32 Juventus fans were killed, as well as seven bystanders. Hundreds of other people were injured. To avoid further rioting from the unruly crowd, the game went on as scheduled. Juventus won 1–0.

Timeline of the Ban: General Ban (1985–1990): All English football clubs were banned from European competitions for five years.

• Liverpool’s Extended Ban (1985–1991): Liverpool received an additional year, keeping them out of Europe for six seasons in total.
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• Return: English clubs returned to European competition for the 1990–91 season. 
• The FA, as the governing body of the national sport, is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA and FIFA.

• The current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.

  This is a complex subject, and the FA's position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary.

  The Supreme Court’s ruling on the 16 April means that The FA will be changing its policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and this policy will be implemented from 1 June 2025.

  We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love, in the gender by which they identify and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game. Here's an historic video about this...6 minutes.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPaj7heCAms
  

ERIC, LAWRIE AND THE MACS (repeat!)

 June 1st 2009 was the UK Premier of the Eric Cantona movie "Looking for Eric" shown at the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays, Manchester. Eric played himself and the most memorable line was "I am not a man-I am Cantona".

Two years earlier (2007), John Terry played an unusual role at the newly rebuilt Wembley, when he scored England's only goal against Brazil in front of nearly 89,000. It looked like a victory at one point but Diego equalised in "added" time. It was the first game to be played at the "new" stadium.

At the end of the 1971-2 season, when fans invaded the pitch after Grimsby Town won the Fourth Division Championship, their manager, Lawrie McMenemy, made a speech to the crowd in an attempt to restore order. As soon as Lawrie finished his speech a lad in the crowd, threw away his crutches and cried "It's alright Lawrie, I can walk now!". The lad strutted off, others gawped at the miracle and Lawrie enveloped a "God-like aura"! 

Actually Lawrie knew the lad and knew the child had been on the mend previously. Lawrie moved to the south coast, from Grimsby in the Summer of 1973 and within 3 years guided the Second Division  club, Southampton to winning the FA Cup (remember Bobby Stokes' goal v Man U?). The Saints were then promoted, were runners up in the 1979 League Cup, he signed Kevin Keegan from Hamburg in 1980 and then came runners up in the League behind a rampant Liverpool in 1983-4. 

In 1985, Lawrie decided he had done his work at Southampton and he moved to his "north-east" and Sunderland. God Bless!!

He did not have the success that he hoped for, despite spending money on Eric Gates, George Burley and Ray Kennedy. 

With the club, one point above the relegation zone, the local lads vandalised his gold Mercedes in March 1987 and he resigned. A month later, Sunderland lost their final league game to Barnsley 2-3 having been 2-0 up and missing a penalty. Needing a win, they then lost the relegation play-off to Gillingham and Sunderland dropped into the Third Division for the first time in history.

On June 1st 1958, Scotland played their first ever international match against Poland in Warsaw. So almost a perfect coincidence, but at least 8 of the 11 Poles had a "k" in their name and no Scot was called "Mc" or "Mac"!! The Macs won 2-1. A bloke with a "k" in his name scored the Poles' goal. 

CLOUGIE AND THEO

 Football On This Day: 30th May 1979

Cloughie leads unfashionable Nottingham Forest to a European Cup Final victory over Malmo in Munich. "Cloughie v Malmo" refers to the legendary 1979 European Cup Final where Brian Clough managed Nottingham Forest to a 1-0 victory against the Swedish side Malmö FF in Munich. The only goal of the match was scored by Trevor Francis. This was an amazing achievement – one which Forest repeated the following year to become the first club ever to win the European Cup more often than their own domestic League title.

and on the same date in 1996, just before the European Championships started, the England squad flew home from a Hong Kong tour and the flight coincided with Paul (yes, you can guess can't you??) 29th BIRTHDAY... apparently. There was a celebration by the squad, in flight and needless to say the Cathay Pacific plane (and probably staff!) suffered £5,000 worth of damage. The chaps created a drunken party and there was no where to go!

and on 30th May 2006, aged 17 years and 75 days, Theo Walcott became the youngest senior England international in the 3-1 victory over Hungary in a friendly, at Old Trafford. Theo broke the longstanding Wayne Rooney's record, when he came on as a 65th-minute substitute, for Michael Owen, in a friendly match against Hungary at Old Trafford. Another debut was given to the robotic dance celebration of Peter Crouch after he had scored England’s third goal.

Theo Walcott (now 37 years old)....below....

made his senior international debut for England on May 30 2006, in a 3-1 friendly victory against Hungary at Old Trafford. At just 17 years and 75 days old, he broke Wayne Rooney’s record to become England's youngest-ever senior international player. He came on as a 65th-minute substitute for Michael Owen. 

Theo's Senior career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2006	Southampton	21	(4)
2006–2018	Arsenal	270	(65)
2018–2021	Everton	77	(10)
2020–2021	→ Southampton (loan)	21	(3)
2021–2023	Southampton	29	(2)
Total		418	(84)